Frontier Ip Regulatory News (FIPP)

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AIM: FIPP

15 October 2020

Frontier IP Group Plc

("Frontier IP" or the "Group")

Portfolio news - The Vaccine Group enters into collaboration with The Pirbright Institute and ECO Animal Health Group

Frontier IP, a specialist in commercialising intellectual property, notes today's announcement below from portfolio company The Vaccine Group ("TVG" or the "Company") that it is to collaborate with The Pirbright Institute (the "Institute") and ECO Animal Health Group plc ("ECO", AIM: EAH) to tackle one of the most economically damaging diseases to the global pig industry.

The collaboration will see TVG use its novel vaccine technology to develop a vaccine to combat porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome virus ("PRRSV"). Together, type-1 and type-2 PRRSV are estimated to cost European pig farmers €1.5 billion a year and those in the US approximately $600 million.

TVG has enjoyed strong progress this year. Other work includes developing candidate vaccines for COVID-19, African Swine Fever, Ebola, Lassa fever, and bovine tuberculosis. The Company and its international partners have been awarded more than £9 million in grant funding from the US, UK and Chinese governments. It raised £680,000 earlier this year in a first equity fundraising. Frontier IP holds a 17 per cent equity stake in TVG.

The Vaccine Group statement in full:

The Vaccine Group enters collaboration with The Pirbright Institute and ECO Animal Health

15 October 2020 The Vaccine Group ("TVG" or the "Company") today announces it is to collaborate with The Pirbright Institute ("Pirbright" or the "Institute") to develop vaccine candidates to combat the porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome virus ("PRRSV") in a project supported and funded by ECO Animal Health Group plc ("ECO").

Under the terms of the agreement, ECO will fund the 18-month development project. This will see TVG use its novel vaccine technology as a platform for two prototype vaccines to tackle PRRSV. Pirbright, a world leading centre of excellence in controlling viral diseases of livestock and viruses that spread from animal to humans, will supply the PRRSV genes and conduct the animal trials for the vaccines to test their effectiveness.

The vaccines will be created by inserting non-infectious conserved genes from PRRSV into a benign herpesvirus, which then stimulates the immune system when delivered into animals. Vaccines that use herpesviruses as their base have been shown to provoke particularly strong reactions from T cells, which are a vital part of the antiviral response.

Collectively, PRRSV-1 and -2 are responsible for one of the most economically damaging diseases to the global pig industry. They are estimated to cost European pig farmers about €1.5 billion a year and those in the US approximately $600 million.

Professor Simon Graham, Group Leader of PRRS Immunology at The Pirbright Institute, said: "This is an exciting project that takes a novel approach to addressing the urgent requirement for improved vaccines to combat the global spread of PRRSV."

Dr Hafid Benchaoui, Head, Global R&D, ECO Animal Health Group said: "ECO Animal Health recognizes the significant, ongoing challenge that PRRSV poses for our customers all over the world. This collaboration with The Pirbright Institute and The Vaccine Group leverages the deep scientific expertise of The Pirbright Institute and The Vaccine Group's novel herpesvirus vector technology in an exciting new approach to PRRSV vaccination"

TVG Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Associate Professor Dr Michael Jarvis said: "This is an exciting opportunity that brings together critical basic science and translational expertise towards addressing this major infectious disease in pigs. As PRRSV is a member of the Nidovirus group of viruses, a group that also contains SARS-CoV-2, what we learn from development of a PRRSV vaccine may also help inform our development of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. "

Frontier IP Chief Commercialisation Officer Matthew White said: "This collaboration with The Pirbright Institute and ECO Animal Health provides a strong endorsement for the potential of The Vaccine Group's novel vaccine platform technology. The company has made very good progress this year, and we are delighted it continues to go from strength to strength."

The Vaccine Group statement ends.

ENQUIRIES

About The Pirbright Institute

The Pirbright Institute is a world leading centre of excellence in research and surveillance of virus diseases of farm animals and viruses that spread from animals to humans.

Based in the UK and receiving strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Institute works to enhance capability to contain, control and eliminate these economically and medically important diseases through highly innovative fundamental and applied bioscience.

The Institute is an independent company, limited by guarantee and a registered charity, governed by a Board of non-executive Trustee Directors.

With an annual income of £35 million from grants and commercial activity, and a total of £25.2 million of strategic investment from BBSRC UKRI during 2019-2020, the Institute contributes to global food security and health, improving quality of life for animals and people.

For more information please contact communications@pirbright.ac.uk 

Tel: +44 (0) 1483 231120.

Follow The Pirbright Institute on social media: Facebook Twitter Linkedin

Visit The Pirbright Institute website: www.pirbright.ac.uk

About ECO Animal Health Group Plc

ECO Animal Health Group plc ("ECO" or "the "GROUP") researches, develops and commercialises products for livestock. ECO's business strategy is to generate shareholder value by achieving the maximum sales potential from the existing product portfolio whilst investing in Research and Development ("R&D") for new products, particularly vaccines, and seeking to in-license new products.

About The Vaccine Group

The Vaccine Group, a spin out from the University of Plymouth, is developing vaccines based on benign forms of herpesviruses. These are a group of viruses found in all animals, including humans.

The Company and its international partners have so far been backed by more than £9 million in grant funding from the US, UK and Chinese governments. It has already announced strong progress this year 2020 in developing vaccine candidates to tackle COVID-19, initially for use in animals. Its vaccines for bovine tuberculosis and African swine fever virus are ready to enter animal trials once testing facilities become available, and US-government backed work on Ebola and Lassa fever virus vaccines was proceeding well.

Other projects underway include developing a vaccine against Streptococcus suis, a disease in pigs which can be fatal in humans.

For more information contact comms@tvg.co.uk or #thevaccinegroup #tvg on LinkedIn

ABOUT FRONTIER IP

Frontier IP unites science and commerce by identifying strong intellectual property and accelerating its development through a range of commercialisation services. A critical part of the Group's work is involving relevant industry partners at an early stage of development to ensure technology meets real world demands and needs.

The Group looks to build and grow a portfolio of equity stakes and licence income by taking an active involvement in spin-out companies, including support for fund raising and collaboration with relevant industry partners at an early stage of development.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH

The University of Plymouth is renowned for high quality, internationally-leading education, research and innovation.

With a mission to Advance Knowledge and Transform Lives, Plymouth is a *top 50 research university with clusters of world class research across a wide range of disciplines including marine science and engineering, medicine, robotics and psychology. A three-time winner of the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education, the University of Plymouth continues to grow in stature and reputation.

It has a strong track record for teaching and learning excellence and has one of the highest numbers of National Teaching Fellows of any UK university. With over 19,000 students, and a further 9,500 studying for a Plymouth degree at partner institutions in the UK and around the world, and over 130,000 alumni pursuing their chosen careers globally, it has a growing global presence.

http://www.plymouth.ac.uk

* Research Fortnight Research Power League Table 2014.

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